


And at the End of Time it's Still Us

by abirbcalledcrow



Series: Demons :thumbsup: [1]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: :), :], Demons, Dream is a menace but we love him, Eret and Fundy and Tubbo and Niki and Dream are a family :), Found Family, Fundy is angy, Idk I'll add more tags later, NO ROMANCE!!!, Niki is terrifying, Or not, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Tommy has main character syndrome damnit, Wilbur and Techno are twins, all of them - Freeform, i could be lying, its ok he'll get there eventually, memory boy is missing, orphan Tommy, thats right they're all demons, tommy needs help to figure things out, uhhhh, where is he, yes their last names are the Wastakens ok deal with it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-27
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:34:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27700771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/abirbcalledcrow/pseuds/abirbcalledcrow
Summary: Tommy is an orphan- yeah yeah, big whoop. His best friend's family finally just adopts him, which is great! Until their house is cursed. He thinks. To be perfectly honest, Tommy has no idea what is going on except for the fact that Dream looks ready to murder someone, and it's probably him.
Relationships: Clay | Dream & Toby Smith | Tubbo, Dave | Technoblade & Wilbur Soot & TommyInnit & Phil Watson, Eret & Floris | Fundy & Niki | Nihachu & Toby Smith | Tubbo, Niki | Nihachu & Ranboo, No Romantic Relationship(s), Toby Smith | Tubbo & TommyInnit
Series: Demons :thumbsup: [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2025863
Comments: 10
Kudos: 184





	1. Dying to a Green Bitch? More Likely Than You Think

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys! This is going to be a wild ride now that I actually have a plot lined up, so strap in!  
> Thank you ever so much to my lovely friends who beta'd this chapter for me: Somber and Canta <3 you two are the best and I'd die for you

Tommy was fairly certain that Dream was trying to land them in a ditch, which is not the optimal outcome of being adopted.

“ _Dream_ ,” he screeched, “stop fucking _laughing_ like a little bitch-ass tea kettle and keep your _eyes on the road you stupid motherfu_ -” Dream slammed the brakes and narrowly swerved around another car, and Tommy slammed forward into the seatbelt, briefly catching sight of a tiny old woman in the car they sped past, who didn’t even look up to see her close brush with death, although with how many wrinkles she had Tommy doubted she’d be that far off track with dying around now. Dream just kept cackling, the wheel jerking dangerously in his hands.

“Oh my god, _Tommy_ , stop freaking out, you’ll be fine, I’ve always been fine, you’re just being a wimp about it,” he did even out a little bit, swerving a little farther from the guard rail on the side of the highway. “It’s only a little bit more, then you can chill out or something.” Tommy settled back in his seat, the belt unlocking, and levelled a glare at the side of Dream’s head, wishing he could burn a laser into the side of his stupid hair so that he could finally get out of this goddamned car.

“I’m too young to die, this is so awful, I don’t even have a wife yet,” Tommy moaned, clutching his stomach with desperation, silently begging all gods above that he wouldn’t throw up on Dream’s rickety old dashboard, faded and a little stained. Dream glared right back, taking his eyes off the road again and one hand off the wheel to rub the side of his head as though something bit him. Stupid mosquitoes, probably. Tommy hated mosquitoes more than anything else. Well, no, actually. They were being moved down to number two, replaced with Dream, especially when he was within fifty feet of any sort of vehicle. Back to the topic of Dream, though, he was still glaring at Tommy. He shrank down, trying not to let the tremors that locked his spine in place show.

“Tommy, whatever you’re trying to pull here by implying that my driving is bad enough to kill you, but I’d appreciate it if you stopped that.” His voice dropped and he leaned closer, eyes locking with Tommy’s. He wished that he could see Dream’s mouth to see if this was a joke, but he insisted on wearing that stupid white mask that should be a lot more stained than it was, so instead, Tommy was stuck being flayed from the inside out by his eyes.

“Yes, yes, that’s great Dream, 100% agree, now please _look at the fuckin’ road_ ,” Tommy screeched again, limbs flailing as he grappled wildly for purchase without breaking anything, stomach problems forgotten in favour of worrying about his own (albeit untested) mortality. Dream rolled his eyes briefly but glanced away with a small sigh and a slight crinkle at the corner of his eye that made Tommy suspect that he was smiling, which really wasn’t helping with Tommy’s mood. “Bitch,” he near-silently tacked on, finding the handle over the scratched window of the passenger side door and clinging on for dear life.

See, this car was _old_. It was a miracle that it moved at all, to be honest. It was a ‘59 Cadillac, and Tommy had a sneaking suspicion that the engine was held together with duct tape and a lot of praying. One time, he’d sworn that Dream had pulled the entire car door off and just awkwardly held it in place until he could fix it.

“Honestly, Tommy, do you seriously think that I’d crash the car before you even got home? Tubbo would kill me if Niki didn’t first.” For a moment, the two sat there in a commiserating silence, Tommy shuddering briefly when he remembered the one time he’d made Niki _really_ angry. To be honest, he’d thought he was dead for a few seconds there. Honest-to-god, white light summoning, meet-your-maker kind of dead. Evidently, Dream had once been on the receiving end of Niki’s anger as well. This realization allowed Tommy to sympathize with Dream if only a little though. He still didn’t like the green bastard, but he could… understand him. Slightly. Alright, maybe that was a stretch. But still, Tommy felt less likely to punch his stupid smiley face mask, which was a step in the right direction. Especially since… Tommy suddenly recoiled with disgust as a thought occurred to him.

“Does this mean that we’re _brothers_ now?” He wrinkled his nose, finally looking back over at Dream. “Because I don’t want to be related to you.” Dream sighed, but the edges of his eyes crinkled again and Tommy didn’t like that he was already able to read Dream after spending only a little time with him.

“Tommy, I’m sure-”

“Wait, are we _bonding_?” He interrupted, eyes widening in horror. “Is that why Eret couldn’t drive me?” He tried to scooch even further away from Dream, practically flattening himself into the door with no regards to the way its hinges creaked dangerously as Dream swerved yet again to avoid colliding with some poor commuter likely just trying to drive home after a long day at work.

“Okay, _what_ is it with you and my driving? I’m literally a great driver, I’ve never gotten a single ticket! Not once,” he said, sounding far too proud of himself for it.

“Okay, first off, that bar is in hell. Secondly, _how_ have you not been recognised as a danger to the general public yet? You’re telling me that not one policeman has seen you drive? Ever?” Tommy knew he was pushing it, especially with how sensitive Dream was about his driving. He vaguely recalled Tubbo mentioning once that he took a lot of pride in his driving with how hard it was to adjust, whatever that meant, but it was kind of funny how Dream just lost his shit when anyone even got close to implying that he was bad at driving. Plus, what’s he gonna do, crash the car?

“You are so incredibly lucky that we are on a highway right now,” Dream sighed, letting his head lean backwards and thunk against the headrest. “Once we get home I can make no such promises.” Tommy’s blood ran cold. Well, shit. He hadn’t really thought that through, or even really considered it as a possible repercussion. Hindsight 20/20, truly. He swallowed down the fear rising in his throat and looked outside, trying to focus on the wilting trees as they whizzed by, counting the ones that he was able to latch onto for a moment or two. Reaching fifty-eight before the road turned from smooth pavement to gravel, Tommy tried to reassure himself that Dream couldn’t legally kill him, but with the way that the terrifying unusual man acted, it was honestly hard to tell. Reasoning that Dream’s friends were still alive, and he tried to kill them on a regular basis, Tommy sat up straighter and looked for where the dense forest would suddenly break into the open sky, and a green hill in the clearing with a massive house perched on top. The gravel drive extended far into the woods, and Tommy was almost tempted to continue his count of trees, but Dream suddenly looked over, the car also moving dangerously close to the side of the man-made path.

“Once we get to the house, you have fifteen minutes to put your stuff away.” He cocked an eyebrow in a challenge and Tommy forced himself to meet the stare because it was 100% not intimidating, no, of course not, he was just not a fan of eye contact. Yep. That’s it.

“A- and after fifteen minutes?” Tommy asked, ignoring the slight creak to his voice. This time when Dream grinned, even the mask couldn’t hide it.

“Then you run.”

*****

The front doors were familiar, which was the only reassuring thing when Dream pulled up, nearly driving up the curb of the front walk. Tommy immediately scrambled to open his door, wincing when it felt as though it was a few hard slams from just falling straight off its hinges. He opened the back door, which felt significantly more stable and hauled his suitcase out from where it had been haphazardly thrown across the back seat.

“Jump out the Cadillac,” someone sing-songed nearby, and Tommy scowled, head popping up. His suspicions were confirmed: Tubbo was leaning against the door, evidently having seen them pull up.

“That’s not even the right lyrics, dickhead,” Tommy grumbled, lifting the suitcase so that the wheels didn’t get stuck in the gravel on the short trip to the door.

“And how are you an expert on the lyrics to that song, then?” Tommy could _hear_ the shit-eating grin on Tubbo’s face as the tips of his ears turned red.

“I thought we agreed that if you don’t talk about the talent show, I don’t talk about the apple sauce-” Tommy started, a slow smile starting on his face when Tubbo immediately scrambled to catch up, laughing.

“Wait, Tommy, I’m sorry, stop, Dream might hear-” Tommy wheezed, a cackle building up inside of him. Speaking of Dream though, he wasn’t heading in the front door but apparently was inspecting the treeline.

“Oh, yeah, speaking of which, uh, Dream might be a _bit_ of a problem. You see, we’ve got a bit of an issue on our hands,” Tommy began, turning to look Tubbo fully in the face.

“Hold on, how do ‘we’ have got an issue on our hands? What did I do to be a part of this?” Tubbo protested, crossing his arms, so Tommy crossed his back, scoffing.

“Well, you see, I didn’t know that Dream would be such a pissbaby about just a little bit of teasing, y’know, some well-justified comments about, his uh, well,” Tommy trailed off, feeling a bit of the righteous conviction fade away and he shuffled his worn sneaker against the shiny marble floor, glancing at the door, or rather, through it to Dream’s junky old car.

“Did you- Tommy, did you say something about his driving?” Tubbo’s eyebrows raised, striving for his hairline, and Tommy winced, which was answer enough. “Oh man, you’re screwed.”

“Hey- no wait, _Tubbo_ , you wouldn’t leave me here, right? We’ll just, come one man, it was just a bit of teasing, not my fault your brother is a sensitive little bitch,” he ended his tirade abruptly when he glanced up, locking eyes with-

“Niki!” Tubbo exclaimed, bounding over to his older sister and grinning at her, practically bouncing on his heels. “Tommy’s here!” The boy in question, Tommy himself, dragged his heavy suitcase to where the other two stood.

“I can see that Tubbo,” she said, raising an eyebrow, but the quirk in the corner of her mouth and the way that she clasped her hands gave away that Niki was just as excited as Tubbo to finally have legally brought Tommy into the family. Flour dusted her dark green blouse and she wiped her hands on light jeans, rocking back slightly to take in Tommy’s slightly dishevelled appearance. “Did… did something happen already?” It wasn’t uncommon for the two boys to get into small scuffles, but thirty seconds in the door was a new record. Tommy scowled at the implication, straightening from where he’d hunched over to get better leverage on the old handle of the suitcase.

“I’ll have you know that I am _perfectly_ capable of walking into your stupid-ass house without getting injured, thank you very much,” he said indignantly, levelling a stare down at the two of them, using his straightened posture to gain an advantage of height and thus assert dominance over the two. _Ha! Who’s laughing now, bitches?_ He crowed internally, a spark lighting in his eyes with defiance. Niki raised her hands in surrender, laughing and shoulder-checking Tubbo when she turned back to go through a wide doorway, leading to what Tommy knew was the direction of the kitchen. He perked up visibly and Tubbo had to stifle his giggles- it was like watching a dog after hearing someone say ‘treat’.

“You baking something, then?” Tommy asked brightly, stumbling over to stand beside Tubbo, pointedly ignoring the way the shorter boy’s shoulders shook with laughter. Niki turned back on the threshold, raising an eyebrow.

“Based on the way Dream in watching you through that window there,” Tommy and Tubbo whirled to see a distant figure hanging out of a tree branch, and Tommy paled, “if you’re still alive by the time the bread is done, you can have some,” She finished with a smile, seemingly unperturbed at the imminent doom looming over her newly adopted brother’s head.

Tommy knew that Dream hunting down people he considered to be friends was a fairly normal occurrence, but he couldn’t be 100% honest in saying that Dream would care about whether or not Tommy, in particular, got dismembered. He shuddered, feeling like Dream’s eyes were piercing through him even from so far away. He sidestepped a little behind Tubbo, but not for any related reason. It was just because he, uh, um- next question, thank you very much.

Tubbo turned and raised an eyebrow, locking eyes with Tommy as Niki laughed, heading away through the twisting halls of the house. Well, it was truly a mansion but Tommy felt stupid saying it.

“So, Tommy, were you going to explain how we’re going to get away from a murderous Dream?” Tommy started to open his mouth to retort, but then stopped himself to grin.

“Oh, so it _is_ we, eh? Sounds, great, big man,” he said triumphantly, as though he’d won some great mental battle. “Us against Dream again?” Tubbo matched his grin and for a moment the two of them had an aura of such strong mischief that when Fundy stumbled down the stairs, somehow still waking up and bleary, he muffled a yelp and tried to run back up the main, sweeping staircase.

“Oh, Fundy, you’re awake!” Tubbo grinned. “I thought you’d fully regressed to being nocturnal or something,” the teasing air was evident in his voice but Fundy bristled, frantically smoothing his fluffy orange hair from where it had tufted up in his sleep.

“There was no _regression_ , Tubbo, because I’ve never _been_ nocturnal.” A pause, then he added, “nor will I ever be.” He levelled a pointed glare at Tubbo, the heat of which was somewhat removed by the fact that his hair was sticking up in two tufts that looked incredibly similar to ears.

“Yeah, and that’s coming from the guy that doesn’t even _try_ to hide the fact that he’s a furry,” Tommy jeered, elbowing Tubbo. “You’re trying to return to fox, yeah?” Fundy glowered, firmly pressing down the hair on top of his head.

“It’s too early to deal with this shit,” he muttered before turning around and loping up the stairs, muttering venomously.

“It’s 2 p.m., actually,” Tubbo called after he retreated back.

“Yeah, bitch, get your times right!” Tommy cackled gleefully, to which their only response was Fundy flipping them off before disappearing, presumably to sulk around in his den- sorry, room.

“Honestly, I hardly even see him anymore. He is just up all night, doing- something? I don’t know. The last time I _really_ saw him, he’d tried to take a whole section of the library and seemed surprised that he couldn’t just make one trip.” Tubbo smiled remembering it while Tomm choked on a laugh.

“He really ain’t all there, up in his head, huh?” He nearly snorted as an idea came to him. “I reckon we should keep him on a leash, don’t you,” he looked over at Tubbo, who smiled wickedly in return. An idea for another prank for another day. For now, a niggling thought yanked at the back of Tommy’s mind and he frowned, once more levelling a gaze at Tubbo.

“Hey, d’you remember what we were talking about-” he started, reaching up to tug at the base of his hair, but was cut off by the front doors slamming open. Dramatically.

“ _Oh, Tommy_ ,” Dream practically crooned, voice taking a wicked edge when he saw that his prey was still just sitting in the main entrance hall. “I even gave you a head start,” he sighed, sounding far too disappointed at how easy it was going to be. All of Tommy’s blood drained from his face, which was ironic considering his heart was beating fast enough to circulate blood through his entire body more than he’d ever need to have a healthy, flushed face. 

Not that this is what Tommy was concerned with at the moment, of course. No, instead he was busy thinking brilliant things like _Run_ , and _I’m going to die_ , and _ohshitohshitohshitohshit_. You know, reasonable things. Rational and strong in the face of danger, that’s Tommy.

It ended up being Tubbo tightly gripping Tommy’s elbow, letting out a small squeak of laughter that jolted him out of this haze of terror.

“Oh my god Dream, can’t you just- let it go? He’s only just got here, man. I’m sure whatever he said wasn’t _that_ far off base, anyways,” Tubbo sighed, leaning into Tommy and subtly tugging the back of his shirt in a silent signal that Tommy recognised- because he’d helped to create it. _Get ready to run_ . Apparently, this was Tubbo creating a diversion, and apparently, it worked from the way that Dream’s eyes- _eyes of a predator never leaving prey never leaving him_ \- snapped to Tubbo, surprise and welling hostility evident.

“ _Tubbo_ , that’s not very nice, why would you _say_ something like that?” Hurt dripped from his voice and Tommy honestly couldn’t tell if it was faked. He was honestly just waiting for the second part of the signal- _run_ \- three taps on the left side.

“Well, maybe because I can quite literally _see_ your passenger-side door on the ground outside because of how you left those doors wide open,” Tubbo snarked, and Dream whirled to see that the door was, in fact, lying on the drive. He let out a howl of agony, rushing to the car as though he’d lost a limb himself. Tubbo quickly tapped out the signal, and Tommy was active enough within his brain again to recognise that doing that instead of just yelling meant that stealth was required. They both quickly, but _quietly_ , backed up, both nearly stumbling over the first step but quickly turning and quickly running up the stairs, Tommy quickly taking the lead and grabbing Tubbo’s hand so as not to lose him.

“Why’d you- you,” Tommy panted, not used to sprinting upstairs while trying not to make any noise, “you could’ve just let him go after me and got Niki or Eret or- or something, right?” Tubbo wheezed a little bit, and it took Tommy a moment to realize he was laughing.

“You’d be dead by the time I found anyone in this massive fucking house, big man,” Tubbo responded, stumbling a little as Tommy’s lead slowly increased due to his advantage of leg length, and Tommy slowed a little to allow his friend to keep up. In turn, Tubbo pulled him around a corner and then to a stop, bending over and wheezing a little as he spoke. “We just- we just need to wait for Dream to get bored. He’ll lose interest if we aren’t being ‘fun’.” He made air quotes while saying this nonchalantly, as though it wasn’t absolutely horrifying to hear that Tommy now had to _live_ with this guy.

“Okay, great plan man, now how do we get away from him?” Tommy’s heart stuttered and he glanced back, making sure that Dream hadn’t come after them yet. So far, the coast seemed to be clear. Tubbo’s eyes lit up and he straightened, grinning.

“Follow me, I’ll explain on the way there,” he started, already picking up the pace again. Tommy followed without complaint, eager to get away from the serial killer he was now, unfortunately, (legally) related to. “So, you know how this house is like, big as shit?” Tommy snorted at Tubbo’s eloquent word choice.

“Yeah man, I noticed that.” Tubbo grinned, knocking into Tommy’s side lightly in retaliation.

“Anyways, there are tunnels in the walls. And secret rooms, I think,” he said casually, not noticing how Tommy slowed, disbelief on his face.

“There are tunnels in the walls?” His voice rose a notch in disbelief because, well, what the fuck. The other boy didn’t seem to notice Tommy’s growing horror as he continued to lead them both through the winding halls, slowly moving deeper into the heart of the house, continuing to chatter excitedly.

“Yeah! And so I’ve been trying to explore them, but there’s this one room that is _really_ well disguised and there’s no way for Dream to get in unless he finds the entrance, and if he does then we’re screwed anyway.” Seemingly pleased with himself at that not at all horrifying conclusion, Tubbo pulled them around a sharp turn that he hadn’t even noticed, the hallways gradually becoming narrower and the decór becoming more dated and dusty. 

“Tubbo, what are the chances that Dream is also aware of these secret passages?” Tommy asked very calmly because he Was Not freaking out, nope, not him! Tubbo’s upbeat pace slowly petered out, and he turned to Tommy, horror slowly creeping onto his face.

“Oh, _shit_ ,” he breathed, a sentiment which Tommy could reciprocate very easily. The old walls chose this exact moment to creak, most likely a pipe being or the heating or some shit, but Tommy’s heart rate jumped to about fast enough to give everyone in the vicinity a stroke. Tubbo jumped as well, practically tearing Tommy’s arm off as he was yanked further down the halls with a renewed energy: fear.

The wood panelling on the walls was becoming darker and more stained, but there was no time to admire it (if either of them were fans of staring at walls for fun). In fact, if asked, Tommy was fairly certain he couldn’t recall what any of it looked like besides vaguely dark, dreary, and old. He was getting tunnel vision, all his thoughts narrowing to _run run run_ and _Tubbo is going to get us killed_.

“Where are we even-” he cut off as Tubbo dragged them both around another near-invisible bend, “going?”

“To the library!” Tubbo responded, sounding far too pleased with himself.

“Tubbo, the library is not a safe room, believe it or not. Are you trying to save us with books and shit?” Admittedly, not his best humour, but cut Tommy some slack. He was under immense amounts of pressure. Tubbo sighed, but whatever he was about to say was cut off by yet _another_ corner- who even needs this many corners in a house- which finally revealed grand, intricately carved wooden doors.

“Just trust me, idiot,” he said, but there was a tinge of laughter in his voice, just enough that Tommy felt gratified for his efforts. Tubbo started pulling the door open, and they were clearly heavy enough that he had to put in the effort. Tommy tugged on the other one, and yep, they weighed eighteen tons. 

The hinges creaked when the doors were finally pulled open through a team effort of the part of both of them. Clearly, this was not a well-used room, although considering who lived here, it didn’t surprise Tommy. He suppressed a snort at the thought and followed Tubbo into the library.

Instantly the smell of old paper filled his nose and Tommy’s eyes widened. The vast room almost felt cavernous, but it wasn’t empty. Rather, the whole thing was practically bursting with old books and creaky shelves, the walls lined with what probably was thousands of hours worth of reading- maybe more. The shelves were not well organized, to the point where many of the sagging shelves looked like they were ready to capsize. In the very back of the room, huge stained glass windows filtered soft shades of orange and blues over everything, and for a moment Tommy forgot that he was potentially in mortal danger. The room stole his breath away- it felt like a place that he wasn’t supposed to be. Like the knowledge on the shelves was forbidden and sacred. A deep desire rooted itself in the very back of his mind. He wanted to explore the library, to go up to its second level and see what information is held. Something whispered that there was more to be seen, to be found, in the vast room. 

He was snapped out of this reverie by the more pressing matter at hand: being hunted by a maniac green bitch. To be more specific, it was a clunking coming from overhead. Tommy almost dreaded looking up, especially with how white Tubbo’s face turned.

“What- Tubbo, do you know what that was?” Completely ignoring the tremor in his own voice, Tommy retreated further into the library, leaving the doors open if only because he couldn’t be bothered to close them. Taking refuge in the shelves, Tommy imagined that it would be easy to hide- and get lost- in the shelves.

“Uhm, let’s just hope not,” he responded quickly, the waver in his voice as evident as Tommy’s. Instead of pressing the matter, the most certainly _less_ scared teen followed Tubbo as he started searching for, well, something.

“Tubbo, what the fuck are we even doing in here? Couldn’t we just go and ask Niki to help us or something?” Trying not to let the urgency in his voice bleed through, Tommy leaned against the nearest bookshelf impatiently, only to leap away when it started to teeter. It stabilised and he let out a sigh of relief.

“I told you, I found this safe room thing a while back,” Tubbo called back distractedly. Tommy pretended not to notice how he glanced up at the ceiling every so often. Looking up himself, all he saw were old support beams. Actually, there were also flashes of silver. Rather incongruently, he thought. Most likely a new addition, ventilation pipes ran all through the dark wood. 

_It rather ruins the aesthetic_ , he thought absent-mindedly. Nervously waiting for Tubbo to find whatever he was looking for, it felt as though they’d reached a lull in the action. The adrenaline that had been surging through his veins subsided and suddenly all Tommy wanted to do was sit down and not have to worry about various painful ways to be killed. 

Drawn out of these thoughts by a soft _aha!_ , Tommy looked up to see an entire panel of the wall swing outwards, narrowly dodged by Tubbo. They locked eyes and grinned together, all of Tommy’s doubts melting away. It had been invisible until some sort of latch was pulled, and Tubbo seemed confident that Dream wouldn’t be able to find them.

“Pog-fuckin-champ, my friend,” Tommy grinned, a wavery sort of relief coursing through his body. Tubbo seemed ready to match his excitement, but his gaze caught on something over Tommy’s shoulder and the blood drained from his face for a second time. Whirling, Tommy looked over his shoulder and saw nothing, nothing _until he looked up_.

There, up in the distant ceiling, was a green figure. Not just sitting in the rafters or scaling the walls. No, the bastard was hanging from one of the vents. Tubbo’s previous paranoia made sense if this was a normal thing for Dream, and Tommy found his fight or flight response activated with an urgency like never before. It appeared that Dream hadn’t seen them yet but that was surely not going to stay that way for long.

Sprinting the short distance to where Tubbo stood frozen by the entrance to the secret room, Tommy practically launched himself into the darker space, yanking Tubbo along and hoping that nothing got dislocated in the process. As soon as they both crossed the threshold, the door closed silently behind them, which was suspicious. Tommy hardly even noticed though, so caught up in not getting killed day one.

God, it really hadn’t even been an hour yet, had it? After years of bouncing around foster homes, Tommy’d been excited to finally just move in with people who he knew weren’t going to make him _want_ to jump ship. And boy did he have creative ways to get kicked out of homes. Practically to the extent that the only two constants in his life were getting moved from home to home and Tubbo. Speaking of which, Tubbo was now on the floor where Tommy had admittedly bowled him over, groaning dramatically.

“Tommy, you’ve killed me,” he whined, rolling onto his back with a huff and rubbing the spot where Tommy’d yanked his arm back.

“Better me than Dream,” Tommy countered with a grin, but he did still kneel down to make sure that Tubbo was just being dramatic. “You alright?” Tubbo looked up, a slow smile forming on his face.

“Clingy.” Tommy immediately recoiled, disgust creeping onto his face.

“Fine,” he spat, ignoring the way that Tubbo was giggling, still on the dusty floor, “see if I care the next time you’re in danger. You can just die, for all I care.” He stalked away, intent on exploring the room that they were trapped in until- well, he wasn’t sure how long it’d take for Dream to lose interest, to be honest. Hopefully not too long.

Completely ignoring Tubbo’s giggles rising off the floor and moving behind him, Tommy surveyed the area. It was a small room, smaller than most bedrooms he’d had, which was saying something. The walls were lined with shelves along the top, glass panes supposed to provide a look into them but they appeared to be clouded with age. Tubbo was trying to peer in, but he was both unable to see through nearly opaque glass and far too short to have a good vantage point.

The most interesting part of the room was the center, a wooden stand holding up a book that looked so old he felt as though simply touching the pages would make them crumble to dust. The cover was made of old, brittle leather. He tried to duck under to see what the title was to no avail. Instead of trying to read the words on the page, Tommy frowned. For a second, his head hurt just looking at the page and he squinted, almost ready to dismiss the words as too sun-stained and blurred from the feeble light coming through the dusty windows at the back of the room to be readable. Then he blinked, and the words made sense.

Shaking his head, Tommy frowned and started to mutter as he read under his breath.

“To… summon a more powerful one, the void requires a- a more powerful sacrifice. This applies to both sides and- and the reader is…” the words faded here and he leaned closer, scrunching his nose, “advised to understand the full cost before proceeding.” Huffing, Tommy rocked back on his heels. “Tubbo mate, this book was written by a fuckin’ idiot. Sounds like… like Lord of the Rings or some shit.” Tubbo laughed and walked over, peering around Tommy. A beat of silence passed.

“Tommy?”

“What’s up, big man?” He responded, looking over to see confusion written clearly all over Tubbo’s face.

“This… this definitely isn’t English,” Tubbo said hesitantly. “Unless you meant like… elvish runes? I don’t know, I never read Lord of the Rings.” Tommy reeled, and his gaze snapped back to the book only to find, to his shock, that Tubbo was right. It was definitely _not_ English. He had a second to consider his options. Either he’d suddenly developed a strange version of dyslexia, or he was going insane. Deciding not to linger on either of those options, Tommy nodded.

“Yeah, of course that’s what I meant! I’m never wrong, you know,” pasting on a bright grin and quickly turning away from the stupid-ass book. “Anyways, do you think that Dream’s realized that we’re not in the library yet? How do we know if he’s left?” Tubbo was effectively distracted and he shrugged, glancing at the false-wall-that-turned-into-a-door. 

“Well, he’s pretty perceptive. I guess it would take about five minutes or so to sweep the library, then a few more to make sure we’re not hiding. I saw a similar thing in one of those manhunts that he did with Sapnap and George.”

“How long do you reckon it's been?” Tommy was pointedly _not_ looking at the book, pacing around to try to glance out the windows with shaky yellow light barely peeking through.

“Uhh, long enough? We should be fine, this is basically in a corner anyways.” Tubbo was already searching for the latch to the door. Tommy had an uneasy feeling in his gut but decided to trust Tubbo, creeping back to peer out the sliver of open air he’d already opened, the need for stealth slipping back into his bones.

The door creaked open, the previous silence it’d had disappearing. The two slumped in relief when there was no intimidating figure waiting to pay them back for a bruised ego.

“Tubbo, you’re a genius!” Tommy grinned, whirling around and beaming at Tubbo. The two laughed together a little hysterically, relief making them giddy.

The bookshelf behind them creaked.

Tommy felt his heart drop into the soles of his feet.

Turning around like he was in a shitty horror movie, heart rate skidding into a full-on sprint.

There, on the nearest bookshelf, was Dream.

Oh, shit.


	2. Dream Wants to Kill People, Uh Oh

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tommy has a fever Dream (get it) and forgets someone. Which is ironic, considering who it is. Then I give you all fluff because I'm not a monster (yet).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that half of this is written like a fever dream! That's half intentional, and half because it was 2am :')
> 
> Also, the ending might be shit. I don't really know, I got a little bored of this chapter lmao. I'm super excited for the next one tho >:]

For the first time today, Tommy’s fight or flight response activated in a way he did not want. He planted his feet and glared at Dream, steeling for whatever would come next- probably a fight, but you never know. Tubbo squeaked and tugged on Tommy’s arm, trying to pull him away from what was Definitely Not a stupid fight to take. Because Tommy was a great fighter! He didn’t lose, hadn’t for a long time. He knew somewhere, deep down, that Dream wouldn’t really kill him, but he remembered the time that George left a manhunt with a broken wrist, or Sapnap with burn scars up his neck, or Bad with a gash down his leg. This was another manhunt to Dream, and in manhunts you have two options: run, or try to fight. Fighting is both the easiest and hardest way to end it, Tommy thought. Running took longer because Dream would always find his target. Fighting was more efficient. It was also the most dangerous route.

Dream laughed. Tommy nearly snarled at the condescending tone to it.

“Tommy,” he sighed, “were you really expecting this to be a fair fight?” Without waiting for a response, he pulled at the handle poking up over his back, revealing an axe strapped to his back. White-hot fear coursed through Tommy’s veins and he faltered, taking a half step back. Dream’s eyes crinkled and behind his mask Tommy could tell that he’d started grinning.

“Shit,” Tommy breathed, making a split-second decision. He reached for where Tubbo had grabbed his arm and tapped, hoping that it was the left side, one, two, three. Run. 

Tubbo hesitated for a moment, but then sprinted off, which was good. Tommy had a plan, and it involved not having Tubbo in the way.

“Wow, you sure are touchy, huh? Can’t even take a little bit of constructive criticism?” Dream snorted, prowling closer.

“I don’t  _ need _ constructive criticism. There is nothing do criticise,” Dream responded, his tone sharpening into a warning. Good. “And I’m going to make sure you remember that.”

What Tommy couldn’t possibly fathom is how this whole situation had escalated this far. Like, he genuinely couldn’t imagine how a bit of well-deserved teasing about Dream’s driving skills had led to this adrenaline-charged moment. Tommy wanted to convince himself that it was all just a bit taken a little too far, but the literal axe in Dream’s hands made it hard to convince himself. 

“You really going to make me fight you, big man?” Tommy shuffled his weight to be a bit more balanced, leaning back slightly. “I thought you were supposed to be an adult, yeah? But you can’t even take a little teasing,” he sighed, pushing as much disrespect as possible into the words. Despite the mask, Tommy knew it was working when Dream’s eye twitched and he took a step forward, hefting the axe.  _ Good _ , Tommy thought, although he twitched backwards nervously before catching himself and realigning his steps. This was unlikely to work. He blazed onwards, still talking. “I mean, are you  _ seriously _ telling me that not one fucking person has said anything to you before? At this point it’s gotta be out of pity,” he sighed dramatically. “Plus, your car is shit. On its deathbed. No wonder people don’t say anything- they’ve gotta feel bad for you.” A  very very big small voice in his mind was yelling that this was a bad idea that would end with at least three broken bones but at that point it was too late to reconsider. Vaguely registering the creak of the great wooden doors opening, Tommy zeroed in on the way that Dream shuffled back a half-step, tensing himself up. It was the only warning before his entire body uncoiled, springing forwards and leaping towards Tommy, axe hefted over his head. Tommy absolutely Did Not squeak in terror, but he did leap out of the way at the very last moment his terrified instincts would allow. Dream snarled as he missed, axe still caught up in the momentum. With bated breath, Tommy watched it fall in a moment that felt like it lasted for at least an hour. He’d been vaguely predicting the way that it would fall, noticing that Dream favored his right side and- predicted correctly, the weapon lodged into the side of a precariously balanced bookshelf, sinking in like the wood was softened and old. Tommy shuddered to think of how sharp it must be for that to be possible- or how strong Dream was. 

A sharp jolt from Dream as he tried to tug the firmly planted axe tugged Tommy back to reality and he scrambled backwards, almost crawling when he stumbled and lost his footing. This was his chance to escape. From some of Tubbo stories, Tommy knew that Dream was extremely attached to his axe. He’d earned himself probably about five seconds and Tommy planned on using them all to the absolute best of his ability. Turning around to flee was a bit harder than usual as his feet slipped on loose papers and Tommy cursed. He leaned forwards to counterbalance and then  _ ran _ like his life depended on it. Looking back it would seem like an overreaction but at the time he could’ve been easily convinced that it actually did.

Easily tracing the path back to freedom and possible escape, Tommy allowed a tilted, manic grin to slash across his face. He was free! It only grew when he distinctly heard a grunt, a thud and then-  _ crash _ . Everything was going according to plan perhaps better than he could’ve ever imagined. There was a twinge of regret at intentionally causing one of the shelves to capsize, victim to an infuriated Dream, but it was still satisfying. Plus, he didn’t really care about books. No, of course not. Who even reads anymore? Surely not Tommy. 

Tommy looked around wildly, figuring that at best he’d be able to find his way back to the entrance hall, but the best-case scenario was either his room or the kitchen. He trusted Niki enough to not let him get dismembered.

This turned out to be a very bad plan of action as Tubbo was nowhere in sight and Tommy had a very, very amazing sense of direction. So amazing, in fact, that it took him to a completely different part of the house. On purpose. To confuse Dream. It was an amazing tactical strategy and Tommy was Absolutely Not lost; he was a big and massive man and massive men did not get lost. They simply… found new places. Like an explorer! That’s right, Tommy was just tactically exploring. On purpose.

Anyways, Tommy was in a whole new section of hallways. These ones seemed to follow the rules of architecture a bit better as all of the turns were ninety degrees, but the interior designer appeared to have died halfways through the house as Tommy could’ve easily been convinced that he’d somehow wandered into a completely different one. Also, all of the doorways, carpets, curtains, and hall decorations were exactly the same. It felt like running in circles. Tommy’s head was beginning to hurt and he really just wanted to find Tubbo and take Niki up on her promise of yay-you-survived bread. Instead, he was slightly wheezing, looking over his shoulder every eight seconds or so, more than slightly terrified of the idea of being jumped by a homicidal maniac with an axe. 

When he’d woken up this morning it was  _ not _ this that Tommy’d been imagining. He’d pictured being greeted, maybe dicking around with Tubbo and reminding Fundy why he shouldn’t have agreed to this. Not- not potential murder and destruction of property. That was supposed to come later.

Slowing to a walk to think, Tommy sighed. In all actuality, he was already exhausted. Unable to sleep the previous night he’d been actually excited (how naive, he supposed). The prospect of no longer having to bounce around with assholes who didn’t really know him was exciting, and so was the idea of living with Tubbo, his best friend of so many years.

So distracted by his  self-pitying thoughts, Tommy didn’t even notice when he stumbled straight into a wall- no, not a wall, walls hurt more. He stumbled back, fear alighting in his veins, heart rate spiking a little bit. Had he really zoned out so much that Dream was able to walk right up to him? He was reluctant to look up. Steeling his nerves, he stepped back, only to see a figure who was distinctly  _ not _ Dream. If possible, they were taller. And lankier. They stared right back at him, and Tommy was confused. Despite Tubbo’s multitude of siblings, Tommy was pretty sure that this was not one of them. They flinched away when Tommy met their eyes and he blinked, confused.

“Wh- who are you?” The person blinked confusedly and Tommy blinked right back at him, mind racing. Was- was this a robber? Had someone broken in? “I- did I forget you? Oh no, if I forgot you this is so bad, we have to get Niki, it’s getting worse,” he started rambling and Tommy latched on to the fact that he knew who Niki was.

“No, I’ve never met you, dickhead. Who even are you? Like a neighbor or something?” He was still suspicious of this strange person who apparently forgot if he knew people. The stranger shuffled nervously, then perked up suddenly.

“Wait, you must be Tommy!” He seemed proud of himself for knowing this. “I didn’t realize it was Wednesday already,” he grinned, or seemed too. Tommy raised an eyebrow as it finally registered to him how the person was dressed- a split mask covering most of his face and then a whole suit. Just. Wearing a suit around the house on Wednesday afternoon. Sure. It honestly wasn’t the strangest thing that Tommy’d seen at this house. But anyways, he needed to get back to the point.

“You live here?” He asked bluntly, not answering whether or not he was, in fact, Tommy (spoiler: he was). He still didn’t trust this strange, tall person that much.

“Oh, yes, I just stay in this part of the house,” he nodded, then added after a moment’s hesitation, “I’m Ranboo.”

“Cool, I don’t give a shit. Can you take me to the kitchens?” Tommy was starting to get that prickling sense of danger again and he figured it’d been long enough for Dream to pull himself out from under a bookshelf.

“Uh, yes, but I don’t-” Tommy honestly didn’t care what else Ranboo had to say (what kind of name is Ranboo anyways?) and grabbed his wrist, looking at the taller boy expectantly.

“Take me. Dream, I assume you know him as well, he’s on a murderous rampage,” Tommy started, and Ranboo seemed surprised.

“Again? That’s the third time this month.”

“Lovely. Anyways, the bitch is hunting me and I need Niki to protect me. She’s your sister, right?” Tommy was reaching a little bit, but it honestly wasn’t too far-fetched that there was another sibling, maybe more, hidden away in this massive house that he’d just never met. It wasn’t like he asked Tubbo,  _ hey man, got any other siblings I should know about _ . It’s just not something that crossed his mind. Most reasonable people don’t go about asking those things to their friends.

“He’s hunting you? Didn’t you just get here?” Ranboo seemed fond of asking questions when all Tommy really needed was for him to bring them both to the kitchen.

“Yes, and yes. Now please, take me to Niki. And hopefully Tubbo,” Tommy added, then realized that if Ranboo really was just some random neighbor or even a robber, he was practically handing him information needed to fool people. Tommy decided to go with his gut though- this guy seemed harmless, to be honest.

“Oh, Tubbo’s back! He was in the woods for a while,” Ranboo chirped brightly, although he did start striding in some direction seemingly purposefully and Tommy stumbled, realizing he was still latched on to the guy’s wrist. He straightened, scowling.

“The woods?” Ranboo had thrown it out as though that’s not a somewhat strange thing to say and do; he said it like it was a normal occurrence despite Tommy not recalling that ever being a thing that Tubbo did. It was strange.

“Oh yes, he goes to the woods sometimes. Usually he’s back before dark.” Ranboo seemed to be completely trusting of someone he’d met about five minutes ago and Tommy was not really interested in having a conversation with this strange boy who lived in the same house as he did.

“So… you are a part of the Wastakens?” The question came out hesitantly and Tommy mentally cursed himself for keeping up the conversation. He was just curious, alright?

“Oh yes. Have been, I’m sure.” That was… strange. Everything about this whole interaction was strange and Tommy’s senses were ringing loudly now. He suppressed the urge to glance over his shoulder every two seconds in favor of watching Ranboo carefully. He walked confidently with large strides, but his back was hunched and he seemed nervous despite not sounding it. Plus, his accent didn’t match any European one that Tommy recognised. He sounded like Dream, who had an American accent from god knows where. 

Tommy started to feel like he was being pulled out of his own body, observing the interaction from the outside. He didn’t feel completely in control when he responded to Ranboo.

“How come I’ve never met you then?” Something behind them creaked and Tommy whirled around to seem empty halls, the shadows seeming to creep a little further into the sunlight.

“Oh, that was on purpose. I’m not meant to talk to humans. I scare them.” Tommy almost scoffed at how offhandedly Ranboo threw out several questionable statements at once. He stumbled forwards, not really feeling it. His legs were numb. Ranboo looked at him almost nervously but whatever he was thinking was not voice.

“You’re not scary, bitch. Whoever’s scared of you is a pussy,” Tommy felt like he was slurring his words a little and Ranboo looked back again, confusion evident.

“Uh, you alright?” He wrung his hands almost subconsciously, surveying Tommy. Suddenly he seemed to light up with a realization, for the second time that day. “Wait here,” he said, then dashed off without getting a response. Tommy scowled but looked around, his surroundings registering for the first time. He was back to the first type of interior decoration which meant they’d somehow already made it nearly back to the entrance hall, which meant they were near the kitchens. That building layout never made sense, but nothing in this stupid fucking house did. Tommy realized that he’d only been here for three hours at most and he’d already almost died several times. Well, that’s promising.

Suddenly the syrup that had been sluggishly pooling through his veins dissolved away and he felt more alert. The strange, dreamlike state he’d been dumped into was gone with a jolt and Tommy blinked.

Everything was so strange and Tommy’s headache was only getting worse. Nothing made sense- it was confusing and exhausting. Despite feeling like energy had been shoved into his bones forcibly, he really wanted to collapse into bed. Or maybe run around as fast as possible. He was in a strange liminal headspace, and Tommy honestly just wanted to get back to being normal. He wanted a normal house with his new adopted family that were definitely not weird. He’d been through many houses and seen many strange things, but for some reason the place he was most familiar and comfortable with was the one giving him the most trouble.

Ranboo entered his line of vision form seemingly nowhere, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

“You should be good now, I just got him to stop,” He said brightly, giving literally no elaboration. At any other time Tommy would have pushed for any sense of understanding for whatever the hell that meant but his head had started pounding and all he wanted was to curl up somewhere warm. Ironically, he was thrumming with energy that seemed to be coming from nowhere. Mentally exhausted but physically full of life. He blamed it on adrenaline.

In the corner, a houseplant withered. It slowly browned, falling over. Its leaves lost their luster and rested limply against the pot. It was dead.

“Uh, Tommy?” Ranboo prodded him nervously, and Tommy dully registered that he’d slumped against a wall. He straightened with little effort, gaze still glazed over.

“Mm. ‘M tired,” he mumbled.

“Yes, well, the effects shouldn’t last too much longer. You’ll be fine soon.” Ranboo announced with no small amount of confidence before grabbing Tommy’s wrist. “Niki will make it better, alright?” Tommy nodded, allowing himself to be pulled along. He kept up the pace easily and Ranboo tilted his head confusedly but didn’t say anything.

The walk to the kitchens were erased from Tommy’s memory the moment he thought about it. It simply was not something he was present for. When he did stumble into the large, airy room, there were twin gasps.

“Ranboo? Why are you with Tommy?” Niki dropped the rolling pin she was holding and rushed over, while Tubbo dropped from the bar stools and gazed concernedly into Tommy’s vacant stare. Ranboo dropped Tommy’s wrist and shuffled awkwardly.

“He’s in hunting mode- full on. Tommy must’ve engaged beyond running.” None of the words made sense to Tommy and he focused on Tubbo’s face- where had Tubbo come from? “I think this is the first time Tommy’s been a part of a hunt, uh, based on this,” he then waved a hand in front of Tommy’s face, to no reaction. “Doubt he’ll even remember me after this.”

_ No _ , Tommy wanted to argue,  _ I know who you are. You’re the strange person living in this house. I just met you _ . But even as he thought it, the words slipped away, becoming something slippery and unusual. It would’ve scared him if he’d had the emotional energy for it.

“Tommy, come sit with me, okay?” Tubbo's voice was unusually soft and Tommy wanted to scoff. But he just couldn’t. After Tommy compliantly followed, plunking down, Tubbo frowned. “He doesn’t move like he’s in the Hunt Space.” None of those words made sense to Tommy. He wanted to ask, really, he did. It was becoming frustrating, a tiny thrumming of annoyance throughout his body.

“Yeah, that’s what was weird to me. He’s all… alive,” Ranboo said, peering across the room. His eyes were funny, there was something weird about them. Tommy couldn’t really look at them long enough to be sure what. 

Niki was bustling around in some cabinet, reaching in and pulling out a strange corked bottle. Everything was becoming murky when she replied, “Tommy has always been strange- that’s why he’ll fit in. You know we wouldn’t have subjected him to this house of horrors if that wasn’t the case.” Tommy would be insulted if he cared enough. His internal monologue wanted to rage but all he did was tap a finger on the table slowly, trying to funnel the energy out of his body. He wanted to slump over and sleep but he was sitting ramrod straight. Everything about his current state was an oxymoron and he hated it. It was confusing. Feeling like he was taking part in a strange fever dream was just- not fun. On the verge of information overload he huffed, drawing the attention of everyone in the room. It was meant to be a word, maybe a sentence if he was lucky, but Tommy supposed that worked too.

“That’s so strange,” Tubbo said curiously. “Are you sure he’s in the Hunt State?”

“Yep,” Ranboo affirmed. “I had to go get an Eye to stop myself from falling in as well. That could be why he’s coming out of it?” All of these words didn’t make sense and Tommy wanted to scream. This  _ had _ to be a strange anxiety dream, and he’d wake up at any moment, nervously awaiting someone to pick him up and bring him here for real.

“Either way, we will absolutely  _ not _ be discussing this with him, alright?” Niki’s voice held the air of authority and Tommy watched Tubbo nod from the corner of his eye. “And you, Ranboo, are going back to your wing, alright? I’ve no idea how he even found you.” Ranboo nodded and then- gone. The empty space where he’d been filled only with air and what looked like purple sparkles. What the fuck. 

Tommy was yanked out of that train of thought by Niki obscuring his entire field of view, still wielding the strange glass bottle. Her voice softened when addressing Tommy. “I need you to drink this for me, okay? It’ll help you feel better.” Tommy wanted to protest that he didn’t need to be babied, thank you very much, but at the same time he had a splitting headache and felt like he was about to pass out. So- yes to the strange drink.

He took it and drank it almost robotically. The effect was immediate. He started to slump over, finally feeling the tension draining from his limbs. As Tommy drifted, he heard two voices- Tubbo and Niki?- talking. Unable to make out the words, he simply let it go and drifted.

***

When Tommy awoke, it wasn’t gently. He jolted awake, banging his forearms on the countertop- the countertop? Taking a moment to absorb his surroundings, Tommy saw a familiar room- the kitchen. Oh. Completely unsure of how he’d gotten there, Tommy tried to shake off the strange feeling in the pit of his stomach. It was like the last dregs of a bad dream still swirling around.

“Tommy! You’re awake,” Niki announced, quite unnecessarily, as she drifted into his field of view. “You’ve been out for a while.” Tommy scowled, trying to recall how he’d even ended up in this situation.

“I fell asleep?” Confusion bled into his voice. The remnants of his strange dream had bled into reality and it was hard to distinguish the true timeline of events.

“Yes, you and Tubbo both. Apparently Dream chased you both around for a bit. Must’ve tired you out,” Niki laughed, turning to open one of the ovens to pull out a perfect loaf of bread in its tin. Right. Tommy remembered that.

“I… had a really fuckin’ weird dream,” he said, almost hesitantly. Niki immediately looked up, frowning.

“Oh no, did you have a nightmare?” Somehow the lilt of her tone just barely balanced on the edge of pity, but Tommy scoffed all the same.

“‘Course not, I don’t get nightmares,” he puffed out his chest and grinned. Niki smiled too, something akin to relief bleeding into the look before she turned away.

“Good to hear it, then.” A beat of companionable silence passed as Tommy woke up fully, stretching. “You should wake Tubbo- he was determined to steal at least some of my baking.” Niki’s tone was coloured with laughter and Tommy grinned as well, leaning over the island to wake Tubbo. He inhaled, preparing to yell something- likely profanities- at Tubbo. Unfortunately, this was interrupted by Tubbo shooting out a hand to push Tommy’s face away. Tommy spluttered indignantly while Tubbo groaned, pushing himself up from what looked like an uncomfortable sleeping position.

“At this point, I’ve developed a sixth sense. A Tommy sense,” he muttered, trying in vain to tame his sleep-mussed hair. Niki laughed and tapped the side of the bread tin, trying to convince the loaf to come out.

“That is so rude. I am now going to cancel you on twitter dot com,” Tommy complained, nose wrinkling. Leaning back in a bar stool to sulk turned out to be a bad idea, however, and he toppled over with a clatter. Instead of helping him, Niki and Tubbo laughed, which was so incredibly rude. He would cancel both of them. At once. Because Tommy is simply that powerful.

Before he could voice this terrifying threat to either of them, though, his attention was diverted. On the wall across from where he stood, right next to the doorway leading deeper into the house, was a knife lodged deep into the wall. Like,  _ really _ lodged. Practically up to its handle.That certainly wasn’t there the last time he’d been in here.

Popping up from where he’d fallen, Tommy glanced at the knife block. Missing one. Huh. “Uh, does anyone want to explain the fuckin knife in the wall?” It was an attempt to come off lighthearted, but his voice creaked. Already feeling mentally exhausted, Tommy honestly wanted to curl up and sleep off the remainder of whatever this addled state was. His dreams had been weird, but it was easy to blame that on anxiety. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d dreamt of strange, inexplicable things due to a bad mental state.

“Oh, Niki threw it at Dream after he chased us in here,” Tubbo said casually. 

“He had an axe,” Niki said by way of explanation. “They aren’t allowed in my kitchen.” Tommy paled a little. He did  _ not _ know that Niki had the ability to throw knives. He quickly took her off the mental list of people to cancel.

“Would it be a bad move to ask why?”

“Last time I let him take an axe in here, everything caught on fire,” Tubbo added helpfully and Tommy wanted to slam his head into the counter. How. Why was this his new reality.

“And how come I don’t remember that? I feel like I’d remember Niki throwing a knife at that bitch,” Tommy asked, feeling a touch of confusion bleed through again.

“Honestly, you passed out as soon as we got here. Not sure how,” Tubbo laughed, but Tommy definitely detected a tinge of nervousness to it. There was something fishy going on here, but the story made sense. Tommy had been exhausted from not sleeping the previous night. He had strange and turbulent dreams that led to him being in the kitchen. It felt like there was a piece missing, except he had all the pieces. 

Dismissing it was easy- Tommy simply Did Not Care. There are more important things in life, like Niki’s sweet bread. Now  _ that _ was worth his mental energy. Also, getting the full story of Dream having a knife thrown at his face. Tommy was sad he’d missed that, but it was still blackmail material.

The kitchen was warm, waning daylight pouring through the tall windows and illuminating everything with a soft golden haze. Tubbo was halfway through telling the story of the time Skeppy and Bad had covered Dream’s face with stickers, Tommy was wheezing out a laugh, and Niki was leaning against the counter, a soft smile on her face. Everything felt… nice. Like the cozy afterglow of the embers of a fire. Tommy was happy, he realized. Truly content. Reminded of the first time he’d felt this way, he let a happy smile slide onto his face.

***

When Tommy was eight years old when he’d first felt the happy glow of family. Even back then, little Tommy was angry at the world. Tubbo liked to fondly call it his ‘premature emo phase’. Though he’d never admit it at the time, Tommy was jealous of all the other kids in his class. They all had nice, new back-to-school supplies. Tommy had the same backpack, same lunchbox, from last year. His pencils were already dull and his erasers were already smudgy. In short, it was shit.

The newest family ‘hadn’t had time to buy him things’, which was adult code for they didn’t care (see above: premature emo phase). He was in a new school district which made everything extra sucky because everyone had already formed their own cliques and groups, leaving Tommy standing awkwardly in the back of the room. Decisively plunking down in the chair furthest from the teacher’s desk was the next course of action for Tommy; he had absolutely no plans to introduce himself to anyone, that shit was just awkward and it terrified him, though that was another thing tiny Tommy was unwilling to admit. He glanced out the window, already bored. The teacher was old and honestly? Tommy could care less about whatever she had to say.

This line of thinking was cut off by the chair next to Tommy at the two-person desk being pulled out. He turned, already glaring at whoever had decided it was a good idea to take the seat next to Tommy. Turns out it was another kid (shock and surprise). The boy was tiny, looking much younger than most other kids in the class. 

He started pulling supplies out of a pencil case, oblivious to Tommy turning up the heat of his death glare. Lining up the pencils and pens in neat lines, tiny child hummed contentedly, unaware of Tommy’s attempts to deal psychic damage to him. Eventually, he got tired of trying to silently make the kid understand how little he wanted company at the current moment, so he spoke up, annoyance sharpening his tone.

“Hey, kid.” Adults always laughed when Tommy called his ‘peers’ kids, but he honestly didn’t care. That's what they all were- kids. Bubbly (Tommy mentally decided that was the best adjective for the other kid) looked up, smiling. He held a red pen up like it was some sort of trophy.

“Hello! I’m Tubbo, what’s your name?” Bubbly- Tubbo (Tommy liked Bubbly better) was resolutely ignoring Tommy’s scowl, holding out a hand without letting his smile falter once. In retaliation, Tommy deepend his scowl, turned away, and huffed.

“’Dunno why I’d tell you that.”

“Well, we are seat mates now. For like- the whole year.” Not if Tommy had anything to say about it. “Plus, I’ll just learn it when the teacher calls attendance.” Well, crap. That ruined several of Tommy’s plans, considering that most of them involved avoiding Bubbly like the plague.

New plan of action: ignore Bubbly. Even if he got Tommy’s name, Tommy didn’t have to talk to him.

Anything else that either of them would have wanted to say was cut off by the teacher  _ finally _ deciding it was time to start class. Bubbly did learn Tommy’s name but Tommy refused to acknowledge him when Bubbly- Tubbo Wastaken, according to attendance- looked up, mischief sparking in his bright eyes.

***

Bubbly followed him around school for weeks. Tommy could not shake the kid. At all. No matter how hard he tried, it was like he’d gained a small, easily excitable, leech. He barely spoke to Bubbly, yet the kid had somehow seemed to be under the impression that they were friends. Tommy never bothered to correct him- but that was only because he brought cookies to school on Tuesdays and let Tommy have one. They were delicious.

Tommy still called Tubbo Bubbly if only because the name had stuck. The first time he’d referred to Tubbo that way, he’d tilted his head curiously but didn’t say anything. Tommy didn’t care. He wasn’t embarrassed. He didn’t care what Bub- Tubbo thought of him. He absolutely Did Not.

***

The legs of the bar stool creaked dangerously when Tommy leaned back, huffing out a laugh. Tubbo paused to look at him, raising an eyebrow.

“Whatcha thinking about?”

“Remember back when we first met? When you wouldn’t fuckin’ leave me alone, and I kept calling you bubbly by accident?” Tommy didn’t even have the decency to e embarrassed on behalf of his younger self.

“Oh, yeah,” Tubbo laughed as well, “you got so mad at me anytime I convinced you to say anything. I had to bribe you with Niki’s baking.” 

“What can I say- I was what they call a ‘troubled child’,” Tommy grinned, over-enunciating the syllables. “It’s why I cause so many problems. Unresolved trauma and all that.” Tubbo scoffed.

“Yeah, you’re not all there in the head,” he said scornfully. Niki laughed, walking back into the room.

“A bold statement from you, Tubbo,” she said, and Tommy crowed with laughter at the way Tubbo’s face fell with blatant betrayal.

It was nice, leaning over the sun-warmed counter, laughing and bantering. Tommy thought that he wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope yall enjoyed! If this is really bad, just please tell me ;-; im not super confident about this chapter but it's been a while and I wanted to get something out :)
> 
> Special thanks to my love Canta for giving me a playlist to vibe to during the writing of this <3

**Author's Note:**

> Comments will feed my ego, even if they are criticism (actually please give me constructive criticism-)  
> I hope you all have a wonderful day and remember to hydrate!!!


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